


Coffee and Shiraz

by LazySundayTales



Category: Holby City
Genre: Coffee, F/F, Shiraz, berena - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8492092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazySundayTales/pseuds/LazySundayTales
Summary: A series of one-shots: All the times Bernie brought Serena her two favourite drinks.





	1. A Day Off

“Bernie, I know it’s your day off…”

Bernie shut her eyes. She had plans to see Cameron for lunch and was even hoping Charlotte might make an appearance, so it would happen that AAU gets over-run. “But?”

“Well, it’s quite busy here-“ Raf began.

 “You need me to come in?” Bernie spoke flatly, already torn between seeing her children and going to help her colleagues out.

 “..Yes and No.”

 “Raf, I have things to do, so just spit it out.” Bernie sighed, running a hand through her still damp hair as her eyes scanned her small closet for something to wear. She'd never owned many things, but now half of them were in one side of Serena's closet and Bernie was cursing herself for coming back to her flat to get ready.

 “Well, we are quite busy but we’re all handling it, so we don’t exactly _need_  you to come in, but the coffee machine at pulses has broken, none of us have time to go to a café, and Serena might possibly kill a patient on purpose if she doesn’t get a caffeine fix soon.” 

 Bernie let out a laugh that was a mixture of relief and amusement. “I’ll bring her something in if you promise not to start me working when I get there.”

 "Deal.” Raf breathed a sigh of relief before asking hopefully, “See you soon?”

 “She can’t be that bad, Raf, it’s only just gone 11am!” Bernie laughed, finally choosing the black shirt that Serena had recently had to restitch the buttons onto after a few too many shiraz made her a little more desperate than usual.

 As though in response, Bernie heard Serena snapping at Raf about making personal phone calls while at work, followed by the bang of the phone being hung up rather angrily.

* * *

“I could kiss you!” Raf exclaimed when, half an hour later, Bernie entered the ward holding a tray of coffee rather precariously in one hand, a bag held more firmly in the other.

 “Ah, well-“ Bernie flushed, still unused to these sudden displays of emotion that she seemed to face every day on AAU.

 “Perhaps I’ll leave that to Serena.” Raf smirked as he heard the yelling of the very woman come floating down the corridor. “Miss Campbell, someone to see you!”

 “Well tell them I’m busy! Who the hell thinks that I have time for-oh.” Serena came to a stop as soon as she lifted her head to find a rather nervous looking blonde stood before her. “Oh, I could kiss you!”

Bernie flushed again, deeper this time as Serena put a hand on either side of her face to do just that before picking up the largest coffee to take a gulp from, followed by a rather guttural moan.

 "I ah,” Bernie cleared her throat, glancing at an amused Raf before looking back at Serena. “I also got a flask filled for later and got you a pain au chocolat.” As Serena looked as though she might snog her in the middle of the ward again, Bernie turned away to put down the tray, busying herself by telling Raf which drink was which. When she finally looked back at Serena, the brunette was smiling at her over the edge of her coffee cup, her eyes telling Bernie she would definitely get lucky later.

 “I think our colleagues will be rather grateful to you, Ms. Wolfe, for saving them from the wroth of a un-caffeinated Serena Campbell. Perhaps you’d like to hang around for them to give you their thanks?” Serena's voice came out like silk and Bernie had to shut her eyes for the briefest of moments.

“I need to go, but I’m sure you’ll be able to pass on all their thanks later on.” Bernie gave Serena one of those small smiles that said so much.

 “I’ll do my best to remember every single one.” Serena promised, eyes not leaving Bernie's. 

 A throat clear from Raf stopped their subtle flirting in its tracks. “As you’re here, Bernie-“

 “No! I am not here, remember!” Finally breaking eye contact, Bernie grabbed her mobile and turned towards the lift, making sure not to look at Serena again lest one or the other of them say, or do, something else.

 Raf smirked as Bernie rushed from the ward before his eyes fell on Serena- lips parted, eyes shut and face looking serene, almost as though she’d just had an org- _N_ _o! Do NOT go there, Raf._ “That was kind of Bernie.”

 Eyes opening slowly, Raf endured the last of the look Serena had given Bernie, and as his boss walked back to what she’d been doing, Raf found himself a little hot under the collar. Bernie was definitely going to get the thanks for his idea, that he was sure of.

 


	2. A Hard Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena is just having one of those days.

Serena had quite possibly had the worst day of her life. Worse than the day she’d found out Edward was cheating, probably even worse than the day Elinor was injured overseas and she’d had to wait for hours to find out how serious was. It wasn’t one thing today, though, it was so many, many things. Everything that  could have gone wrong did, starting with the car accident she’d witnessed on the way to work, and ending with her car breaking down half way home.

Normally, she might have called Bernie. Capable, perfect Bernie, who would fix the car for her, would bring her coffee, would bring her a hot water bottle to hug while she sat in the car. But today, to make it that LITTLE bit worse, Bernie was spending the day with her family, and Serena couldn’t bring herself to interrupt that. Her famiy as in her two children, her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s parents, who weren’t aware of their divorce. Bernie had agreed to pretend for the day after being begged by Charlotte, and though Serena knew she was doing it for the very best of reasons, it still hurt.

With a sigh, she looked at the dead screen of her phone before shoving it back into her pocket. Pulling out her work bag and an umbrella, Serena slammed the door and began the long walk home.

When she got there, she’d drink several bottles of wine in bed until oblivion hit her.

Except she wouldn’t, would she, because she’d need at least a shower first to warm up, because the heavens soon opened, and Serena found out that the umbrella she’d taken was jason’s old broken one that he’d been reminding her about for days.

Her partner playing happy families with someone else, soaked to the bone, no car, no phone, and a trail of dead patients behind her. “Oh, what a fucking brilliant day!” Serena burst, ignoring the stare of the woman passing her.

 Almost home now,  almost near the bath, the wine, the bed. You can do it, Serena! 500 steps. 499. 498. 497- oh dear, she really did pay too much attention to the things Jason told her sometimes. He’d spent one whole Sunday a few weeks ago counting the steps from all his favourite places to the house.

 “Hello, you.”

 Serena’s head shot up, frowning at the unexpected sight of Bernie stood out the front of her house, a large umbrella over her head and a nervous smile on her lips. After a year together, Bernie still greeted her with that nervous smile, as though she expected Serena to tell her to go away. Serena swallowed back the sharp response on her lips and instead managed, “I thought you’d not be back until tomorrow night.”

 “Raf called, said you’d had a hard day.” As Serena reached her, Bernie slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her under the umbrella, walking them towards the front door.  “So, I came home and set up all the things Serena Campbell might need after a hard day. The wine is open, the bath is running, the bed is warm, dinner is ordered, and I got you this.”

 The first laugh of the day left Serena’s lips as she took the silver bell from Bernie’s hand. “What exactly is this?”

 “Neither of us are working this weekend, so you have me at your beck and call for the next 48 hours.” As Serena smiled and stepped through the doorway, Bernie added, “I was going to wear a maid outfit, but I wasn’t sure our relationship has progressed that far, yet.”

 Serena let out another laugh, this one a little louder, before she ventured to ask lightly, “How was today?”

 “I’ll tell you later. First, you need warming up.”

 “But was it…did they-“

 “It turns out the fact I have you as wallpaper on my phone, I say your name at least once every five minutes..and the fact Charlotte let slip that her mother’s girlfriend is a surgeon as well was quite enough to make them understand Marcus and I are no longer together.” Bernie responded as she slid the jacket from Serena’s shoulders.

 A little of the tension that was holding Serena released, and as Bernie led her up the stairs, a yawn escaped her lips. Perhaps today wasn’t so bad, after all.

 


	3. Major Wolfe

Serena had never hated planes more than she did at that very moment. She'd been woken by a call in the middle of the night and was on a plane 2 hours later with the vestige of sleep still surrounding her. What she wouldn't have done for a shiraz in those 2 hours, or the 5 hours she'd spent on the plane, but all she'd been given was a weak coffee that tasted like plastic.

 _Calm down-_ Serena tried to remind herself, tried to calm her breathing, but it wasn't working.

The call had been from one of Elinor's friends saying her daughter had been hurt.  _Again._ She was never going to let her go on holiday again, Serena had already decided that much. It transpired to be only a broken bone, but it meant Elinor couldn't fly and she was fast running out of money. Edward had been contacted first, much to Serena's annoyance, but had been kind enough to say that as Elinor had got herself into the mess, she could get herself out of it.

In the few minutes before she got on her flight, Serena had called Bernie. Bernie, who's terrible, terrible timing meant she was on another bloody secondment in another bloody country just when Serena needed her  _again._

But somehow, Bernie had managed to calm her down, and she'd even managed to get Serena upgraded to first class, Serena suspected by somehow pulling rank with someone because she heard herself being referred to as Major Wolfe's friend.

Except now there was no Bernie, she was about to land in a country she'd never been to before with only carry-on luggage and a name of a hospital scribbled on a piece of paper ripped from the bottom of a Chinese take away menu. Serena didn't even have an idea of how far away from the airport the hospital was, nor did she have any of the local currency. She supposed she'd have to find a taxi to take her there, but were they even called taxi's here? Would they take card, or would she need to find somewhere to exchange some money?

Putting out a hand, Serena stopped the man who had been the one to offer her an upgrade. "How long until we're there, do you think?"

"We'll start descending shorting, and you'll be first off, I promise."

Serena gave a weak smile and turned to look out the window again. She had been wanting the flight to go quickly, but then suddenly they were there, landing, and she wished they could stay in the sky a little longer. She needed more time to think, to work out exactly what she was going to do. Serena loved being in new places but had always hated the process of actually getting there.

But then the steward was handing her a bag, wishing her a safe holiday and ushering her out the door. Holiday? Serena dearly wished this was a holiday, because at least then there was no one waiting for her, expecting her to sort things she had no idea how to sort.

"Ms Campbell?"

Serena froze, sure she heard someone say her name as she entered the airport.

"Ms Serena Campbell?"

Definitely her. Serena turned towards the voice, startled when she saw not one but 3 people in British army uniform stood there. The woman of the group stepped forward, offering a kind smile and a hand to shake that Serena, shamefully when she remembered later on, gave a rather weak response to.

"We have orders from Major Wolfe to escort you to your destination."

"Oh." It was all Serena could manage, but there was so much relief in that one word.

"She said you might need this." The woman held something out, and it took Serena's tired eyes a moment to realise what it was- a coffee. If she didn't love Bernie already, she would have fallen for her right then as her hands wrapped around the hot cup and the scent of a strong coffee hit her.

* * *

Whether it was a short or a long drive to the hospital, Serena had no idea because she fell asleep almost as soon as her seatbelt was done up. The panic and worry that had kept her awake the past few hours ebbed away with every step she'd made towards a marked army vehicle.

It was a strange sensation that woke her, though. Serena felt too warm, too upright and too still after the jolting of uneven roads that had brought her to her destination. Dry eyes opening slowly, she watched as the driver pulled up right out the front of a tiny, dirty looking hospital. Oh god. Elinor is going to get some horrible bug and have to get her arm cut off, or worse, she'll die from some painful disease that her mother can do nothing about, and then-

"We're here." The female officer held out a hand to Serena once more, and the brunette was glad her grip was a little stronger this time as she allowed the woman to help her out of the car. "Major Wolfe should have arrived a few hours ago, so-"

"Major Wolfe is here?!" Serena stared at the woman before her.

"She…yes, I believe so."

After harried, mumbled thanks, Serena rushed her way into the hospital, practically murdering the man at the reception desk with her glare when he didn't understand English. But finally she was directed to a short corridor, and it was half way down it that she heard the best noise she may have ever heard in her life- Elinor laughing.

One can't laugh when one is being killed by some painful tropical disease, can one?

Then another glorious noise reached Serena- Bernie's laugh.

Bernie really was here. Bernie really had come. Where Edward had failed once again, Bernie had saved the day.

"Hello, stranger." And there she was, a smile playing on her lips, her hair tied back, and wearing hideous bright pink scrubs.

"Hi, mum." Elinor smiled from where she rested back in bed, a large dressing covering one side of her chest, her arm strapped to her body.

"What…what.." Was all Serena could manage, her tired, worried brain unable to formulate anything else.

"I had an open fracture, and Bernie reduced it for me." Elinor offered.

"With everything perfectly sterile, I double checked." Bernie assured as Serena fell into a chair beside her daughter.

"She breezed in here, mum, as though she owned the place. You should have seen it. Everyone scattered and ran off to do exactly what she told them to!" Elinor laughed.

"Well, to be fair you only saw the end result of my explosive argument with the head of surgery." Bernie pointed out, smiling at the girl in the bed affectionately.

"But, you…but…"

"Are you ever going to get a full sentence out, mum?" Elinor teased.

Serena ran a hand through her hair, looked up at Bernie…and promptly burst into tears.

* * *

Wrapped in the loose embrace of a sleeping Bernie much later in the day, Serena watched on as her daughter dozed peacefully. Without Bernie, she would probably still be in pain, still be waiting for surgery, and Serena doubted very much, despite how persuasive she could be, that she would have been able to command a group of strangers as Bernie had seemed to.

And, unlike Edward, when Bernie was called she'd dropped everything to come and look after someone who she wasn't even related to, just because she knew how worried Serena would be.

With another sigh, happy this time, Serena wriggled herself free from Bernie's arms, determined to go and find some semblance of coffee so that she might take on a few people herself and sort a transfer to a hospital closer to the airport.

"S'rena." Bernie mumbled from where she still sat by the window.

"Mm?"

"Don't drink their coffee, it tastes like dish water. I bought some of that instant you..tolerate at the airport, it's in my bag." Bernie gestured to the bag on the floor without opening her eyes as she snuggled further into her jacket against the cold room.

Coffee could wait, Serena decided. Instead, she returned to Bernie's embrace and nestled into her. "I love you, Major Wolfe."

"Almost as much as you love coffee?"

"More." Serena assured her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Not as much as she loves shiraz, though." Came a mumble from the bed.


	4. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be the final chapter I posted, but it's pure fluff and I felt like people might need that today!

Sometimes Bernie didn’t even want coffee as soon as she arrived at work. In fact, most of the time she didn’t, because the coffee at Serena’s house was smooth and slightly sweet and reminded her so much of Serena’s kisses that she always enjoyed a big cup as soon as she woke.

But whenever she arrived at work separate from Serena, Bernie would always order coffee. It wasn’t because she knew Serena would want one, although she loved the smile she’d get when she held out a hot cup as soon as Serena came in from the cold. It wasn’t because it was just a habit. It was because the woman at the counter always just assumed she would be getting two- one for her and one for Serena. Like they came as a pair.

It was the same at Albies. Bernie would just stand there without saying a word, and yet the large glass of shiraz would inevitably make its way to rest in front of her. Serena thought she was being chivalrous, always getting the first drink in, but really she just loved the fact that she and Serena were so entwined in everyone’s mind.

It had even happened at what they thought of as ‘their’ Italian restaurant. Charlotte had asked to speak to her mother, and in an attempt at finding somewhere she’d feel comfortable, Bernie had chosen the Italian restaurant. Without a word, the waiter had brought the usual bottle of shiraz to the table as soon as Bernie arrived, and the scent that was so Serena it instantly calmed her nerves. Charlotte had wrinkled her nose at the wine and ordered something else, but Bernie steadfastly drank her way through the bottle, every sip a calming reminder that Serena was at home doing the same thing, taking the same sips of the same wine.

Serena had teased Bernie when Albie’s shut for renovations, because she refused to try another bar, somewhere she and Serena would be viewed as separate entities. For those two months, they stayed home- well, Serena’s home- every night and had their wine there.

When those two months ended, Bernie found she didn’t actually want to go to Albie’s anymore. She used to enjoy the fact that people had linked them in their minds, but now she just relished the fact that they were linked in each other’s mind. Serena’s Bernie, Bernie’s Serena.

As time went by, the coffee and wine began to play less of a part in Bernie’s happiness, replaced by Serena’s appreciative smile, the way her eyes sparkled, the way she no longer even bothered to order her own drinks because Bernie was always there a second earlier, the way Serena’s hand always rested on her thigh when they joined colleagues at Albies, the way Serena would look at  her over her wine glass in a way that told Bernie it was time to go home.

But she still loved the way Charlotte crafted a bottle of wine and a take away cup of coffee from fondant for the top of their wedding cake. She loved it almost as much as she loved Serena Campbell.


	5. Edward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A death in the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this is a little depressing, but it's been in my head and I just had to write it. There is another chapter coming that's pure fluff, though!

The first morning was the worst, when people she could barely remember the name of arrived, all vying to take things over, to be the most needed. Serena just let the pantomime swirl around her, barely noticing people's words when they spoke to her, shrugging off any effort to comfort. It must have been about midday when she heard the voice she'd been so desperate to hear. But when it asked to see Serena, it was politely turned away, told Serena didn't want to see anyone, and Serena found herself unable to stand and rush to the door. Serena wanted Bernie's comfort; in fact she longed for it, had never ached for anything so much in her life, but it suddenly felt wrong. She shouldn't be comforted by Bernie when Edward, the man she'd loved, the man she still loved, her daughter's father, had died. Somehow, in Serena's muddled brain, the belief that she shouldn't be comforted by one love after the death of another made perfect sense. And so when she heard Bernie growing anxious, trying to demand the group of do-gooders let her through because she was sure Serena would want to see her, Serena found herself unwilling and unable to intervene. Instead, she just continued to stroke Elinor's hair, offering the soft, comforting words she'd used to make the girl fall into an exhausted, emotionless sleep.

By evening, everyone seemed to have gone. They didn't get the thanks they were expecting from Serena, nor from her daughter, and so slowly they trickled home to their own families, focussing on them and quickly forgetting the two females alone in the large, dark house.

Elinor and Serena wandered aimlessly through the rest of the day, neither quite sure what they should be doing or how they should be feeling now that the initial shock had worn off.

Unsure what had brought her there, probably the hope that icy cold air might rouse her from this nothingness she felt, Serena pulled open the front door a little after 6. And there on the short table on the side of the porch was dinner. Elinor's favourite pizza. She might have thought that Elinor had ordered it if it wasn't for the single glass of shiraz that rested beside it.

Serena didn't need to look at the cars that lined the street to know who had put it there, and quite recently based on how warm the box still felt, but she was grateful that no one came forward, no one spoke to her as she walked back inside and shut the door softly. She remained grateful as Elinor ate with relish, but Serena herself only consumed the shiraz. It wasn't until much later that night, wearily pulling out her phone to thank the deliverer, that Serena instead found a message from them. One line of simple words that finally made Serena cry.

_I love you._

* * *

The second morning was only mildly better. No relative's hovering, no one expecting anything of Serena or Elinor. Clad in pyjamas, they watched mindless television curled up together until Serena finally decided to be the mother she was and forced herself to stand. She intended to make her daughter breakfast, but was quickly ushered to sit back down again, Elinor telling her that breakfast had already been delivered. A moment later she set down a tray in front of her mother- Coffee and pain au chocolats. Serena's heart ached.

Food was delivered for every meal for the next two days. Always coffee for breakfast, always a single glass of shiraz with dinner, always one single message that arrived every night.

_I love you._

* * *

On the fourth night, Serena finally slept through the night, but found herself waking early, too early, for Elinor was still asleep and time alone meant time to think. Serena wasn't sure if it was coffee, fresh air or company that led her to open the front door as soon as she heard the crunch of gravel that morning, but whatever had been the reason, she was glad of it.

Unlike the relatives who had crowded her, drowned her in their commiserations, Bernie didn't offer any words, not straight away. She just drew Serena close and held her, waited for Serena to be the one to open up. When Serena finally managed to speak, her words were laced with a guilt that made Bernie understand instantly why she'd been pushed away.

From that moment on, Bernie was Elinor and Serena's link to the outside world. Most of the time she would stay with them in the darkened, quiet house, only occasionally venturing out to buy food, or to speak to someone, or to organise the thing that Serena did not want to think about.

* * *

It was on the 7th night that Serena realised her guilt was not necessary, that it was okay to be comforted by Bernie. She did not replace Edward, she was simply Just Bernie. It was the middle of the night, pitch black and cold, when Serena heard Elinor crying. She'd rushed from her bed, cold feet padding soundlessly towards her daughter's room, but she stilled in the doorway. On the bed, Elinor rested in Bernie's arms, sobbing into her t-shirt as Bernie rocked her slowly and dropped kisses to her hair. Despite the pain in the moment, the blackness surrounding them, it was a memory Serena treasured for the rest of her days.

* * *

On the day of the funeral, Serena had worried- Elinor knew of her father's faults, but she loved him, so how was Serena to explain why there were no friends, no other family to come to the funeral? Why had Edward so selfishly left it up to her to be the one stood beside their daughter in an empty church?

But then Bernie, glorious Bernie, saved the day. One by one, people began to trickle into the church. First Bernie's own children, then people from Holby, then people Serena had never even seen before. They came until the church was full, until she could hear Bernie telling Elinor softly about how loved her father was despite his faults.

When Serena was offered a glass of shiraz at the wake, she shook her head. She didn't need oblivion, she didn't need courage, she didn't need liquid help, she just needed Bernie Wolfe. And she had her.


	6. Pain- Part 1

It wasn't how she expected this to happen, it wasn't how it had been described to her countless times by relatives of the people she treated.

When Serena saw the thermos on the ground, its contents spilled and mingling with blood, Serena felt her world stop, and for the briefest of moments she felt suspended in a bubble, hovering above and looking down at herself but feeling nothing. Then suddenly she dropped with a bang, and as she hit the ground, her heart shattered into a million tiny pieces that would never fit perfectly back together again. Stars began a cruel, mocking dance in the corner of her vision, and she could no longer draw a proper breath into her aching lungs.

"Serena?" Raf ran the last few steps towards his boss hurriedly. He'd watched her climb from her car moments earlier, and they'd shared a smile as Serna slammed the door shut, but then she stopped dead, a noise that made his blood run cold making its way from her lips. "What is it?"

In silence, Serena pointed to the spot where the thermos rested, the thermos Elinor had given her for Christmas with the words 'this is definitely not shiraz' written on the side. The thermos that Bernie brought with her every morning, its contents known on AAU as 'Serena's emergency caffeine'.

"I-I'm sure she was just helping out an injured person." Raf tried to reassure her, but a second later a gust of wind alerted them to Bernie's scarf, currently wrapped around the bent fender of the car that Serena had but a few moments ago tutted at because of its terrible park.

Raf wasn't sure how he managed to get Serena moving, but they somehow made it inside, his mumbled question about Bernie answered by a point of a finger. She'd been taken to AAU.

"No." That was Fletch's first word to Serena that day as he put a hand up to bar her going any further onto her own ward. "You can't go in there."

"Move out the way." Serena's voice sounded so unlike her own that she briefly wondered who had spoken the words she meant to say.

"Serena-" Guy Self of all people was the next person to step in her way, to try and dissuade her from going into the trauma bay.

But Serena would not be stopped until she finally managed to see the bed on which Bernie lay. Her hair was splayed over the pillow, and Serena was reminded of Bernie when she slept, so often these days with a small smile on her lips. But Bernie wasn't asleep, Serena could process that much.

For a second that felt like hours, Serena was sure she was dead, for she lay unmoving amongst a swarm of doctors and nurses. Though she didn't realise it, Serena must have made another noise then, because Bernie's hand was suddenly lifted and reaching in Serena's direction.

"I'm okay."

Serena shook her head, though Bernie couldn't see her, and stayed rooted to the spot. How could she lie there in a neck brace, after Serena had seen the scene outside, and say she was okay?

"Serena, I'm okay." Bernie wondered why this felt so different from the time Marcus had arrived on her first day at Holby, when Bernie had only managed the briefest of smiles and reassurances. This time, her heart rate increased and her hand reached blindly in the direction of Serena, desperate to reassure her that she was okay, she wasn't going anywhere, they wouldn't be separated again.

* * *

An hour had passed now, and Serena still refused to move closer to Bernie.

She'd received an explanation of events that should have soothed her worry somewhat, but all it did was make her heart ache that little bit more. An injured girl had been dropped out of a speeding car just as Bernie had arrived at work. As usual, she jumped right in to save the day, calling for others to help. But as the patient was loaded onto a bed, the car had come back, panicked perhaps and wanting to take the girl back lest she say something about them. Bernie had only just managed to jump out of the way in time, but had hit the very edge of the gutter with her back. The back that was still weakened from the IED.

Maybe this time was harder because Bernie was scared. Last time, it had been almost expected, this time such a shock. She'd been planning on taking Serena out for dinner, had been walking through the carpark in a happy haze as she remembered sleepy Serena's smile that morning. And now she lay in a bed with shooting, tingling pain down her legs and a Serena who would come no closer than the doorway.

Urged to stay still and restrained by the neck brace, Bernie let out a frustrated moan. "Serena, please!"

And then suddenly, finally, Serena stepped forward and took Bernie's hand, her face appearing in the space above Bernie that had been only ceiling tiles and lights that were far too bright for the last hour.

"I'm okay."

Serena nodded this time, a single tear falling from her own cheek to dampen Bernie's. Lifting a hand, Bernie caught the next tear before it fell and smoothed it away with the pad of her thumb. "Are you crying over me or over the spilt coffee?"

Serena laughed, then. A sound that Bernie loved, a sound that worked better to ease her pain than the morphine she'd been given.

"You and your bloody coffee." Serena managed to say, a watery smile making its way from her lips to her eyes. "I wouldn't touch a drop of coffee or shiraz ever again if it meant you were okay."

"I  _am_  okay." Bernie repeated.

It transpired she was, too. Severe bruising that would cause extreme discomfort, but bruising that would ease.

* * *

When the collar had come off, when she'd been moved to a side room away from the bustle of the trauma bay, when the morphine had properly kicked in, Bernie was the one to cry.

After much coaxing from Serena, the blonde admitted that it wasn't shock or pain or self-pity that made her cry, but the fact she'd almost been parted from Serena once more.

That was the day they finally agreed there would be no more secondments, no more Bernie's flat, no more separate Christmases, no more hiding their feelings.


	7. Pain- Part 2

“Serena.” Two weeks later, Raf cut her off part way through her explanation of the case she’d just taken on. When she glanced up at him, he tilted his head towards the lift, and following his gaze, Serena found herself rolling her eyes. Berenice Bloody Wolfe. Passing the ipad to her colleague, Serena paced towards the blonde, coming to a stop a couple of steps ahead of her with folded arms. “What are you doing here?”

 Bernie looked up from studying the coffee cup in her hand and gave a nervous smile. “You caught me.”

 “What are you doing here?” Serena repeated.

 “I just had physio, and I thought-“

 “Well you can un-think it, because I told you that I did not want you back on this ward until you’re fully recovered.”

 Bernie gave a frustrated huff. She’d been injured two weeks ago now and her recovery was not going as quickly as she hoped. For the second time in her life, Bernie found herself with a walking stick and overwhelming frustration, with the added bonus this time of an overprotective partner. “But Jason has a whole afternoon of history documentaries planned, and I fear I might go mad.”

 “I’d rather you mad than paralysed, because you’d be even more insufferable.”

 “There’s no risk of paralysis, Serena!” They had this conversation at least once a day. “It’s only-“

 “Guy said you need rest to recover properly, Major. Go home.”

 The look Bernie gave Serena then reminded her of a teenage Elinor when told to clean her room.

 “At least have lunch with me before I go?” Bernie asked hopefully.

 Sighing, Serena studied her for a moment before looking around at the ward. “...I’ll meet you in pulses in 10 minutes, but you’re going downstairs in the lift, NOT taking the stairs.”

 Huffing again because Serena knew her too well, Bernie gave a mock salute and then turned back to the lift. She hated having to rely on this bloody stick to get around, but found without, she got shooting pains down one thigh still. Not that she’d tell Serena this, and the physio had assured her it would stop soon.

 Serena watched Bernie’s slow progress towards the lift with an aching heart. She knew that soon enough Bernie would be back to her usual self, that it was just bad luck she’d hit her back in the same spot it was weakened, but it terrified her to think of Bernie as fallible. God, she would have been a mess if she’d known the blonde when she’d been hit by the IED.

* * *

“You’re two minutes late,” Bernie noted without looking up from the newspaper when Serena sat opposite her twelve minutes later.

 “Sorry, I took the stairs.” Serena replied, earning herself a glare before Bernie rather grudgingly pushed the coffee and a sandwich across to her as she returned to reading her newspaper. After taking a scalding sip of her drink, Serena reached out and rested her hand on top of Bernie’s. “Look, to make up for making Jason babysit you, I’ve got you a present.”

 “A new back?” Bernie grumbled.

 “No, but then I quite like your back as it is, it’s the spine I have an issue with.”

 Bernie had to smile at this, thinking of all the nights Serena spent massaging her back and peppering it with kisses. “Go on then, what’s this present, Campbell?”

 “Paperwork!” Serena replied, triumphantly lifting her other hand to drop a stack of files onto the table. “All the junior staff need a review done. If you PROMISE not to start muscling in on patient care, I will even let you work from your desk, provided you take regular breaks and tell me if you back gets too sore.”

 Smiling wider than she had in weeks, Bernie looked back at Serena with pure love. “Oh, I could kiss you right now.”

 “Let’s see if you’re saying the same thing later when Morven is telling you in detail about her sleeping patterns,” Serena quipped. “Now what do you say to taking this lunch back to our office?”

 “Yes please!”

* * *

“Ms Campbell?”

 Serena glanced up to Morven who hovered anxiously by her side. “Yes?”

 “I was just in the middle of telling Ms Wolfe about my sleeping habits for the review, and she…well, she fell asleep?”

Serena gave a soft laugh, glancing towards the office where she could just see a head of tousled blonde hair resting against the back of a chair. “She refuses to take the pain killers, but the pain wipes her out. Just leave her to it and I’ll finish your review tomorrow.”

Relieved, Morven gave a smile and rushed back to work, leaving Serena to smile once more at the office before returning to her coffee and patient notes. Berenice Bloody Wolfe.


	8. Trains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just came across one I wrote ages ago! Not checked, so apologies in advance for mistakes.

Serena was no longer sure when she ended and Bernie began, and that’s why these separations were so difficult. Difficult for both of them, she knew, despite the fact whenever Serena asked Bernie if she’d missed her, all the blonde would do was sigh _Serena._

She might not be as adept with words and feelings as Serena herself was, but Bernie tried to show it in other ways- she’d slip Serena presents into her luggage and look bashful when Serena mentioned them, she’d leave little post it notes in odd places for Serena to find when her day was going badly, she’d call at random times in the night and just ask Serena if she’d mind breathing into the phone to help her get to sleep.

 

But this time the separation was caused by Serena. A fortnight away, first to a conference, then to stay with Elinor. Elinor who bemoaned the fact her mother would just idly wait inside the entrance of a cafe rather than join the line because despite her being miles away, she just expected Bernie to order her one. It got to the point where Elinor was so exasperated, she’d call Bernie ahead of time to tell her where they’d be going so that Bernie was forced to hurriedly call their order ahead.

 

Serena had enjoyed her downtime away from Holby and all the stressors there, but she couldn’t wait to get back. Especially because tonight was the night of her two-year anniversary with Bernie. Though Bernie hadn’t mentioned a plan, Jason had quite mildly told Serena how Bernie had requested that he go and stay with Alan for the night.

 

Serena couldn’t wait to see what Bernie had planned, but she’d have to of course because she was stuck on a train that had moved nowhere for the past hour. Worried there was a sick passenger, Serena had offered her services, only to be told their journey was delayed by a signal fault that would take a while to be fixed. Serena had questioned how long exactly ‘a while’ was, and had been, she thought rather rudely, told to go back to her seat.

 

Instead, she’d called Bernie from the back of the carriage to grumble to her, annoyed when Bernie didn’t even seem put out. Perhaps she’d misunderstood what Jason had been saying, perhaps there was nothing planned. Perhaps Bernie had forgotten completely.

 

And she couldn’t even buy any of the bloody coffee on offer because Serena no longer carried change with her, used to just dipping into one of Bernie’s jangling pockets if she needed any.

 

When an alarm from someone’s phone indicated that two whole hours had passed, Serena began to pace, only stopping when she heard the beginnings of a commotion in the front of her carriage.

 

It was a moment later that she saw several men in police uniform barging through and looking for someone. Oh god. Something terrible was going to happen, and she’d argued with Bernie because she hadn’t been sympathetic enough for Serena’s liking.

 

But a few seconds later, Serena was drawn from her fretting, because the men in uniform came to a stop beside her seat and asked gruffly, “Serena Campbell?”

 

“Y-Yes?”

 

“This way, please.”

 

Serena blushed when she felt other passengers watching her with interest, wondering what she’d done to be escorted from the train in this manner, her luggage already in the arms of one of the men. “W-What exactly is going on?” Serena managed to ask when she was finally led down the stairs onto the tracks beside her train.

 

“Orders from above, Ms. Campbell.”

 

Robbie? No, he had no way of knowing where she was or that she was stuck on a train. At least that’s what she hoped, because Elinor had been telling her about tracking devices all bloody week and Serena was beginning to feel rather paranoid.

 

When nothing more was forthcoming, Serena ventured, “What were the orders, exactly?”

 

“To escort you from this train and into a taxi waiting by the side of the road. Coaches will be arriving shortly for the other passengers.”

 

Right. Edward, perhaps? He liked grand gestures and had had friends in the police, but how would he have known where she was? Elinor? And why would he want to help her, anyway?

 

Serena barely noticed as she was led away from the tracks and to the nearby road, the noise of other passengers disembarking already making the quiet countryside much too loud.

 

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” Came a voice suddenly calling to her through the night.

 

When Serena lifted her head, she found Bernie stood before a car, dressed head to toe in military uniform, complete with medals pinned proudly to her chest.

 

“B-Bernie?” Serena squinted at her, sure it must be a mirage.

 

“You’re always saying you want to go to a military do, and tonight’s your night, Fräulein. Thanks, boys.” Bernie saluted the men in uniform, and if it was possible, the move made Serena love her even more.

 

“What…but…how…but-“ Serena attempted as she came to a final stop in front of the blonde.

 

A smirk lit Bernie’s lips, and from within her jacket she pulled out a hip flask that Serena immediately recognised was from her survival kit, and which she now took an appreciative swig of shiraz from.

 

“I couldn’t allow the VERY eminent Serena Campbell to be stuck on a train all night in the middle of nowhere, now could I? So I had to call in a few favours.” Bernie opened the taxi door form Serena, touching her hand lightly to brunette locks to stop her hitting her head as she climbed in.

 

With a relieved sigh, Serena sat back and shut her eyes for a moment before asking suddenly, “You do realise a train full of people think I’m a terrorist or something now, don’t you?”

 

“Unavoidable, I’m afraid. I was going to get them to do an announcement, but there is so much red tape, and apparently, it’s actually illegal to say quite a few things over the speaker in a train.” Bernie sat in the cab beside Serena and indicated for the driver to start the car.

 

“…Why are you...grinning? It’s un-nerving.” Serena wrinkled her nose at the woman beside her.

 

“Because I just staged a rescue, and now I get to show you off to my old colleagues!”

 

“…You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

 

“On my second bottle.” Bernie replied quickly. “Can you tell I’m terrified?”

 

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Bernie.”

 

“But we do, because I want them to see…me. Me as the real me. And I’m the real me when I’m with you.” Bernie tilted her head to the side to watch Serena for a few seconds before adding, “And now I promised to go in exchange for people calling people to get you off that train because I didn’t fancy another angry Serena phone call or going to this thing by myself.”

 

Giving a soft laugh, Serena reached out to pull Bernie a little closer. “You and your grand gestures. You know I would have been happy to get home late as long as you were there. And maybe a pizza.”

 

“Well I do have an old colleague who owns a string of pizza shops, I could—“

 

“No! No more calling in favours for me, Major. Two military escorts are quite enough for one life time. I don’t want to get a reputation for it, I’m not the bloody queen.”

 

“You’re my queen.” Bernie swooned.

 

“Are you sure you’re only onto the second bottle?” Serena teased, capturing Bernie’s lips.

 

Never again would she underestimate her Major. And quite frankly she was glad Bernie had called in favours, because the thought of a night by her side when she was wearing this uniform was doing funny things to Serena’s insides.


End file.
